Punjab: Army, NDRF teams come to aid of marooned persons

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Chandigarh, July 10

As torrential rains battered the region for the third consecutive day, the Punjab Police along with the teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have scaled up the rescue and evacuation operations in flood-ravaged districts across the state, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Monday.

Worst-hit areas

• 15 NDRF teams and two units of the SDRF deployed in worst-hit districts
• 12 columns of the Army also called in to help civil administration
• SAS Nagar, Rupnagar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Jalandhar Rural and Patiala worst-hit areas

The worst-affected districts include SAS Nagar, Rupnagar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Jalandhar Rural and Patiala.

Following the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to ensure that an elaborate flood protection mechanism is in place, DGP Gaurav Yadav and Special DGP Law and Order Arpit Shukla have been personally supervising the situation, while, CPs/SSPs have been asked to remain in the field and monitor the situation in their districts at regular intervals.

22 families Rescued in Faridkot

Faridkot: The district administration sought help of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to rescue 22 families of Kothe Chahal village near Faridkot on Monday. The families were stuck after the overflowing of the Langeana Drain water. The NDRF personnel used boats to rescue them. As the water has inundated the fields and damaged the crops, farmers are staring at major losses. With no proper drainage system, the growers alleged that the drain hasn’t been cleaned for the past many years and that it was almost blocked.

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“Our teams along with NDRF, SDRF and Army have been working round-the-clock in extremely challenging conditions to safeguard the life and property of the people,” he said.

Divulging more details, Shukla said a state control room has been actively working 24×7 for flood mitigation and hourly reports are being taken from districts to know the real-time situation.

“Anyone requiring any kind of help can call the helpline number 112,” he said, while urging people of the state not to panic and cooperate with the administration and police. He also appealed to the people residing in low-lying or flood-prone areas that they should move to safer places or relief centres set up by their district administration.

Meanwhile, the Special DGP said the Punjab Police have made extensive arrangements, including sandbags, tents, lights, langars and food packets, medicines and ambulances, rescue boats, recovery vans/JCBs, life jackets, communication and public address systems to deal with any kind of emergency.

“There is no dearth of funds from the CM-led Punjab Government,” he added.